MYTH 1: Sulfur in hair care products cause dandruff

Actually sulfur is part of anti-dandruff ingredients! It helps get rid of it, not cause it!

MYTH 2: Weather causes dandruff

Low humidity can trigger dry skin which leads to flaking but weather alone does NOT cause dandruff.

MYTH 3: You can catch dandruff from someone

Dandruff isn’t an infection, which means it can’t be caught from contact with people with dandruff. You have to have an individual sensitivity or predisposition to it.

MYTH 4: Dandruff is caused by poor hygiene

While washing your hair helps, this is a common misconception. It’s actually our intrinsic susceptibility to irritation, sebum (a substance found on our scalps) and a micro-organism that lives on our scalp that really causes dandruff. Of course, while dandruff isn’t simply a result of poor hygiene, washing your hair regularly with dandruff can certainly make a big difference.

MYTH 5: Styling products cause dandruff

No, but some styling products leave a flakey residue that looks like dandruff. (From the resins that hold your hair in place).

MYTH 6: Dandruff is caused by dry scalp

This is a little redundant at this point but actually dandruff has nothing to do with dryness – rather it’s caused by too much oil.

MYTH 7: If a shampoo says it removes flakes then it’s a dandruff shampoo

Some clever marketers imply their products are dandruff shampoos by talking about removing visible flakes (which ANY shampoo will do). Burts Bees “Feeling Flakey” is an example.

MYTH 8: Copper brushes cure dandruff

Copper does have anti fungal properties and although some people swear by this, we can’t find any evidence that it’s true.
The Beauty Brains bottom line
It’s important to understand whether you truly have dandruff or just dry scalp. Then you can decide how to best take care of your scalp. A ZPT-based shampoo is generally accepted as the best but there are several different active ingredients you can choose from if your scalp is particularly flakey. And now you know that sulfur in shampoos and the weather do NOT cause dandruff!